Making meaning where there is none
💬 “We live in a warehouse of casts that have lost their moulds,” - Roberto Calasso, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony (1988).
This quote, from the author, editor and translator Roberto Calasso, reminds me of the mysterious novel Piranesi by Susannah Clarke.
The huge ‘House’ in which Piranesi, the main character, finds himself is filled with giant statues of no known provenance. It is quite literally a warehouse of casts.
Because he is familiar with the statue of a gardener, he believes, he understands what a garden would be. The statues point enigmatically to a reality beyond his experience - or at least beyond his memory. Piranesi makes meaning where there otherwise is none.
And so do we.
More:
Roberto Calasso’s obituary
Susannah Clarke discusses her novel Piranesi on BBC Radio.
